Being Flexible

Just coming into the new year, you might think I'm referring to the flexibility of the body. However, if you are a homeschooler, than you might just be on the right track in thinking that:

Homeschooling is all about being flexible!

We can plan, we can organize, we can strategize, but if we can't be flexible than we are likely to be miserable.

Case in point:

Monday, January 4, 2010

Sit down with each child and figure out where they left off and where they need to go.

Spend time writing out this week's schedule in each of their planning datebooks.

Get to bed on time so as to be fresh for the first full day of school.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Get everyone up on time and provide them with a hot, nutritious breakfast so that we can be ready to tackle the first day of nicely planned schoolwork.

Ring the bell at 8:00 and get everyone started on their work.

Go into my bedroom at 9:00, pull up the shade and notice the dead deer that is laying across the end of our driveway.

Forget the nicely planned schedule of organized schoolwork, throw on some winter clothes, grab the camera and head outdoors for some biology, physics and physical education classes! (We had to figure out how to move it off the end of the driveway so no one hit it again :)

(Really, it did throw off the entire morning, but I figured, how often does an opportunity like this come by. Unfortunately, the deer was hit by a car sometime last night and not by my "aching-to-kill-a-deer-before-hunting-season-ends-soon" husband. We figure it was one of the 11 deer we saw in our yard Sunday evening.)

Back to my point. I could have been upset that a good portion of the time I spent on Monday was already blown by 9:00 on Tuesday, or I could choose to be flexible. I decided long ago that it always works out better for everyone to choose the "flexible" option! One of the true joys of homeschooling is when we can take advantage of the educational opportunities that God drops in our laps and not be so worried about what we had planned.

Hope your new semester is off to a good start, too!